How insurance gets sold in Nigeria
Trust is the real product
Nigerian insurance selling starts from scepticism. Many prospects have heard a story about a claim that was not paid, so the agent's first job is not quoting but convincing, often over weeks of WhatsApp messages, calls, and visits. The strongest sales assets are proof: a claim your agency handled well, a referral from someone the prospect respects, a producer who kept every small promise along the way. That style of selling produces long, fragile follow-up chains, and each broken link costs a policy that was nearly won.
The transfer is the close
Cover begins when premium is paid, not when the quote is accepted, so the real closing motion in Nigeria is the payment chase. Meanwhile corporate broking runs on a different clock entirely: tenders, presentations, and approvals that stretch across quarters and reward meticulous, staged follow-up. An agency usually runs both motions at once, which is precisely what one pipeline with different boards is for.